Fee-For-Service

Well-designed programs to coordinate care for patients with complex needs can reduce Medicare expenditures, including skilled nursing facility costs, according to an issue brief released Thursday by The Commonwealth Fund.

The predominance of fee-for-service payment methods is the greatest barrier to improving efficiency in the nation's healthcare system, according to a May 29 report from a panel of White House advisors. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology criticized the FFS payment model because it focuses on the volume of services provided rather than on better outcomes.

Fee-for-service payment methods are the greatest impediment to an efficient healthcare system by incentivizing volume instead of better outcomes, advisors declared last week in a report to President Obama.

The current fee-for-service healthcare model should be replaced with bundled payment systems that encourage more coordinated care, the National Commission on Physician Payment Reform said in a report released Monday.

As states expand enrollment in managed care plans, operators should focus on quality improvement, according to panelists at a National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry session.